Fluid-tight closure member for washer drums



1,636,192 H.- W. MITCHELL FLUID TIGHT CLOSURE MEMBER FOR WASHER DRUMS July 19,1927.

Filed June 11, 1km

Patented July 19, 1927.

2v-1 AT-E P T NPQ CE- HARRY w; m'ronnnn, or cLnvnL'a vnpmo A'ssm'aomo G. MITCHELL on, A ,UB'PABTNEBSHIP comrosnn' or GEORGE F. MITCHELL, GEORGE. a. MITCHELL, am)

IrAImY w. MITCHELL, or CLEVELAND, 01110.

FLUID-TIGHT cnosuna mEmB'Enroaw-Asnna DRUMS.

Application filed June 11,

members for washer drums, such as em-' ployed in washers of the type in which a.

fluid tight rotary drum forms the container for'the: cleansing liquid and the articlesftobe cleansed.

wall of the drum through-which access may be had to the interiorof the. drum for insertion of the clothes to be washed and for the-removal thereof after the washing op:

eration. and it is necessary that'the opening 'be provided with at fluid tight closure memberwhich will not permit leakage of liquid when the closure member passes beneath the body of liquid in the drumduring rotation. The present invention has for its object to provide a closure member which will effectively seal the opening and whlch can be,

readrly'reinoved to obtain access to the in terior-of the drum; V

A further object is. to provide a closuremounted upon the wallof the drum thatint'e'rnal pressure particularly that due to the wei'ght of the liquid as the closure passes beneath the same will act to member against its seat. a

With the above and other objects in viewthe invention may be said to'coinprise the.

7 device illustrated in 1 the accompanying drawings hereinafter described and particu-,v

larly set forth in the appended claims, together with such variations and modific-a tions thereof as will be apparent to one skilled in the art to appertainsfi i i rReferenee should be to the accOm-f gainying drawings forming part of the speci'-: cation, in which Fig.1 1s a top plan view which the invention p showingthe closure member secured in place in-the-opening of the drum. Fig. 2 is a fragmentarytrmnsverse section through the closure member and showing a portion of the cylindricahwall of the drum in which the-opening is formed, this view being taken onfline 'of'Fig. 1. Fig. 3' is a. fragmentary longitudinalsection on an enlarged scale taken on line' 3-3 of Fig. 1.-Fig. 4

is an end "elevation of the drum, this view.

beingon a considerably smaller scale than the other: views. -F1g. 5;is a transversesecpress the closure 1924; semi No. 719,200;

i signed for use with a washer cylinder of the In washers of the character above referred:

t0-an opening is provided in the peripheral rotary type, which is mountedfor rotation upon a horizontal axis, and forms afluio and the articles to be cleansed.

As shown in F igs.. :2 and 3, the drum ,is

provided withian .imperforaite cylindricalwall formed of'sheet metal and closed at itsthereof. Theopeningin the cylindrical wall of thedrum is closed by means of a one-piece sheet metal closure memiber which has a body portion 5 of exactly. the same size as the opening and adapted to fit therein, the body portion 5having a curvature corresponding to the curvature ofthecylinder, so that the outer surface of the closure member con-. forms to the surface of the cylinder."

Around the edge, of the closure member thereis an'inturned flange-6 which-when tight container for both the cleansing liquid 1 the c'losuremember is'in place in the openi ing fits within the inner ve e ofthe stifiemng bead .3,; the inturned ange 6 having an outturned edge flange {which is stiffened at-its outeredgeby a reversely foldedportion 8, the outwardly extending flange '7 underlyingthe stiffening bead 3 throughout the extentthereofr, A gasket 9 in theform of a rubber ring issecured to the outwardly extendingv flange 7.01? the cover and serves to seal the joint between theimarginal portion of the cover and the beaded edge of theopening. The gasket 9 is provided with a groove 10 extending outwardly from the inner. side thereofand of suflicient depth toreceive the ventirevflange 7, so that the gasket 9 may be permanently secured upon the flange ,7. The'outerface of: the gasket 9 is adapted tobeKpressed into concave form to conform to theetubular bead-3 when the lo ure member is/clam d in x pl andivthe inner portion of the groove 10 is enlarged to provide a cavity 11 upon the'outer side of the flange 7 whereby the gasket is made more elasticso that it may readily conform tof the form of the bead 3 and whereby a greater play ispermi'tted' between the stifi ening bead 3 of the drum wall and the mar ginal flange 7 of the closure member. The opening in the wall of the drum 1s elongated in the direction of the axis of the drum and extends to adjacent the heads of the drum, the sides thereof being substantially straight and the ends rounded, -At interranged in such a manner that when the coveris in place one of the clamping members 14 will be opposite each of the wear plates 12. The clamping members 14 are carried by pivots 15 which connect the clam s 14' with stamped sheet metal base "mem ers 16 riveted upon the outer surface of the closure member. Each of the clamping members 14 is provided with an outwardlyprojecting thumb piece 17 by means of which the clamping members may be "readily turned into engagement with the wedge portions 13 of the wear plates or inwardly clear of the edge of the opening to permit the closure member to be removed. The engagement of the clamping members "14 with the wedges 13 causes the closure member to befdrawn outwardly clamping the outer I portion of the packing ring '9 tightly between the stifieningbead 3 of the H drum wall and the marginal flange 7 of the closure member, forming a fluid tight seal between the closure member and the wall of the drum entirely around the opening. The location of the clamps at the corners of the closure members enables the closure member to be held to its seat "with substantially uniform pressure throughout its periphery and since thewear plates are positioned on rigid parts of the drum, the

v ,i clamping-of the cover does not cause a distortion of the cylindrical sheet metal wall.

The closure member is provided with a suitable handle 18' and with a recess 19' beneath the handle to'accommodate the hand. The opening in the periphery of the drum i is preferably elongated and extends longitudinally of the drum. When the closure member is released from the drum it can be lowered into the drum clear ofthe opening Clamping memand tipped inwardly and turned laterall so that it can be readily removed throng the opening. To again put the closure member in place the closure member is inserted endwlse into the drum, then turned parallel to the wall whereupon'it' can be lifted into engagement with the opening and clampedin place by means of the clamping members 14.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination with a washer drum having an elongated opening in its cylindrical wall intermediate the ends thereof, of,

a unitary closure member having a body portion adapted tofit in the opening and having a curvature corresponding to the curvature of the cylindrical wall, said cover having an inwardly offset marginalportion adapted to engage the interior of the drum around the edge of the opening, and a plu rality of clamping-members, each pivoted upon the outer side of the-closure member n adjacent the edge thereof and movable into and out of engagement with the wall of the a drum adjacent the opening.

2. A washer drum having an elongated opening in its cylindrical wall intermediate the ends thereof, asclosure-member for said opening having a bodyportion adapted'to fit within the opening and to com lete the cylindrical wall, said closure mom or hav-" ing an inwardly offset marginal portion adapted to engage the inside of the drum around the opening, said closure member being removable through the opening, wedge plates upon the outer surface o-f the drum adjacent the opening,['and clamping mem-- bers pivotally mounted upon the outer side of the closure member and movable laterally about their pivots into engagement with said wedge plates to draw the marginal portion of the closure member into tight engagementwith the inside of the drum. v v

3. A washer drum having a sheet metal cylindrical wall provided with an elongated opening intermediatethe ends thereof, the sheetmetal at the edge of the openin be ing-rolled over to provide a hollow tn ularstiffening bead extending around the open-- ing, and a closure member for said opening having a body portion ada ted to fit'within the opening, a marginal engageable with the outside of the drum to draw the marginal flange intotightengagement with the inside of the drum.

4. A washer drum having a cylindrical sheet metal wall provided-with an openin therein intermediate theterior of the drum, the sheet metal of the drum wall at the edge-of the opening bein rolled over to form a hollow tubular sti fening bead surrounding the opening, a onepiece'sheet metal closure member having an ange adapted-to underlie the bead and clamping members ends thereo through which access may be had to the ininturned marginal portion adapted to fit within the opening and an edge flange projecting outwardly rtion, a packing strip carried by said an between said flange and the stiffening bee. and means for clamping the closure memhe r in place and for drawing the mar- ,ginal flange thereof into tight engagement with the packing.

5. A washer drum having a cylindrical sheet metal wall provided with an opening therein intermediate the ends thereof through which access may be had to the in-.

carried by said flange and engageable wit I the inner side of the bead, wedge plates secured upon the outside of the drum and overlying the stiffening head at the edge of the opening, clips pivoted upon the outside of the closure member and engageable with said wedge plates to draw the marginal portion of the closure member into sealing engagement with the stiffening bead at the edge of the opening.

6. The combination with a washer drum having its cylindrical sheet metal wall provided with an opening intermediate the ends thereof through which access may be had to the interior of the drum, the sheet metal at the edge of the opening being rolled back upon itself to provide a continuous tubular head of a closure member for said opening having a body portion adapted to fit in said opening and an inwardly offset marginal flange extending outwardly therefrom and adapted to underlie the bead, a rubber packing ring mounted upon said flange said ring having a groove extending from the inner side thereof adapted to receive the flange from the inturned edge and a concave face adapted to fit against said head, and releasable clamping means for se-, 7

curing the cover in place.

washer drum having its peripheral wall formed of sheet metal and provided with an opening through which access may 7 be had to the interior of the drum, the sheet metal at the edge of the opening being rolled back upon itself to form a continuous tubular bead, a rubber ring enclosed within said head, spaced wedge plates secured upon the outside of the drum and overlying the bead at the edge of the opening, a one piece sheet metal closure member having a body adapted to fit within the opening and an inwardly offset outwardly extending marginal flange,

a rubber packing ring having an upper face formed to fit the inner side of the bead and a groove in which the marginal flange of the closure member is received, and pivoted clips mounted upon the outer side of the closure member and adapted to be turned into engagement with the wedge plates to clamp the closure member in fluid tight engagement with the wall of the drum and to be turned back upon the closure member to release the same.

8. A washer drum having heads and a cylindrical sheet metal wall, said cylindrical wall having an elongated opening extending lengthwise thereof from adjacent one head to adjacent the other, said openinghaving rounded ends, a sheet metal closure member having a shape corresponding to that of the opening, said closure member having a mar ginal flange adapted to. underlie the wall around the opening, wear plates secured upon the cylindrical wall adjacent the rounded corners of the opening, and an adjustable clamping member carried by the closure member adjacent each of the corners thereof, said clamping members being engageable with the wear plates to secure the closure member in place.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature.

HARRY W. MITCHELL. 

